New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he’s going into his ballyhooed sit-down with President Donald Trump focused on one of his core issues.
“I will work with anyone to make life more affordable for the more than 8 and a half million people who call this city home,” Mamdani said during a Thursday press conference. “I have many disagreements with the president and I believe that we should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that could make our city affordable for every single New Yorker.”
Mamdani’s statement echoes promises he made during his campaign when he clashed with Trump over immigration and tax cuts, but expressed openness to working together to address the cost of living.
That issue was the cornerstone of Mamdani’s mayoral platform, which included policies like free buses, universal childcare and rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments. He said Thursday that one in 10 New Yorkers who supported Trump also voted for his campaign, in part because of their shared message of bringing down costs.
In recent months, however, Trump has been roundly criticized for failing to deliver on his pledge to do so, as grocery and electricity prices have skyrocketed. Democrats have also lambasted his massive tax bill for slashing SNAP and Medicaid funding in ways that will make it harder for millions of Americans to afford food and health care.
Mamdani added that he wouldn’t hesitate to push back if Trump threatened New Yorkers. In the past, Trump has repeatedly said he’d curb federal funding to the city if Mamdani were elected and suggested that he’d take actions to “straighten out” New York. This past week, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, threatened to deploy more federal agents to the city and ramp up immigration enforcement.
“Being a New Yorker means that you’re prepared for all kinds of situations, all kind of comments,” Mamdani said, noting that public safety is another subject he intends to raise. “I’ll stand up for New Yorkers every single day.”
Mamdani’s measured remarks come after the leaders have traded barbs for months.
Trump has elevated false claims about Mamdani’s immigration status and repeatedly and falsely referred to him as a communist. He’s also threatened to arrest him if he tries to combat federal immigration enforcement in the city. And on the eve of the mayoral election, Trump endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, telling people that the city would be an “Economic and Social disaster” under Mamdani.
Mamdani has also emphasized that he’s prepared to counter Trump’s ICE surges and that he opposes any potential deployment of the National Guard.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said during his victory speech in November.
Mamdani said he didn’t view Friday’s meeting as a venue for personal disputes but rather as an opportunity to advocate for his constituents.
“It’s not about myself, it’s not about a relationship with an individual, it’s about a relationship between New York City and the White House, the president, the federal administration,” he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, was less conciliatory.
“It speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to the White House because that’s who the Democrat Party elected as the mayor of the largest city in the country,” she said during a Thursday press briefing.